SKIRITAI

Greek Name

Transliteration

Latin Spelling

Sciritae

Translation

Hardened-? (skiros)

THE SKIRITAI (Sciritae) were a tribe of Indian men with snake-like nostrils instead of a nose and bandy, serpentine legs.

CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES

Pliny the Elder, Natural History 7. 25 (trans. Rackham) (Roman encyclopedia C1st A.D.) :
"Megasthenes [Greek historian C4th B.C.] tells of a race among the Nomads of India that has only holes in the place of nostrils, like snakes, and bandy-legged; they are called the Sciritae."